Updated on 2003-07-17 02:19:45
SAN FRANCISCO: July 16, 2003 - (PNS) - In a news report by US Group, two Pakistanis have been killed near Washington D.C. this is day after American Muslim group reported at surge in hate crimes against Muslims in U.S.
“Because the motivation for this attack is not clear, and because there have been a number of bias-related attacks nationwide on Muslims, Arab-Americans or those perceived to be Middle Eastern, the intervention of the FBI is warranted in this case,” said Seyed Rizwan Mowlana, executive director of CAIR-Maryland.
Since the beginning of this year, CAIR has received reports of physical assaults against Muslims or those perceived to be Muslim in California, Georgia, New Jersey, South Carolina and other states. One incident in Yorba Linda, Calif., left a Muslim teenager badly beaten by a group that allegedly included white supremacists. In Arizona, a Sikh man who may have been mistaken for an Arab was shot in Phoenix. In Illinois, an explosive device destroyed a Muslim family’s van. And just last month, a New Bedford, Mass., pizza delivery man was kidnapped, beaten and stabbed, apparently because his attackers thought he was Muslim.
Only yesterday, CAIR released its eighth annual report on the status of American Muslim civil rights indicating that anti-Muslim incidents increased by 15 percent over the previous year.
CAIR is America’s largest Islamic civil liberties group and has 16 regional offices nationwide and in Canada.
Edited - with link: http://www.paknews.com/top.php?id=1&date1=2003-07-17